#360debate: Are United right to cut their losses with Di Maria?

Sport360 staff 07:07 27/07/2015
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  • Heading for the exit: Di Maria.

    With each passing day it seems increasingly likely that Argentine star Angel di Maria will depart Manchester United, with the latest development seeing the winger fail to arrive to join the club on tour in the USA.

    Speculation of a big-money move to Paris Saint-Germain remains constant and it appears that a financial agreement between the two clubs is little more than a question of time at this point.

    Our #360debate today is: Are Manchester United right to cut their losses and sell Angel di Maria?

    Matt Monaghan, reporter, thinks YES.

    When Angel Di Maria enters the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room, he will not have to look far to find a fellow world-class player whose face once did not fit.

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic knows all about the situation his new colleague has gone through. The Swede was a square peg in a round hole at Barcelona, yet remains heralded everywhere else he has been.

    This is the same for Di Maria and Manchester United, a pragmatic and perfectly sensible decision being reached to cut the chord between them after one year.

    Both parties will be better off without each other. The Argentine winger should excel in the less-physically-demanding environs of Ligue 1, while a new start in France appeals to a player and family so badly affected by a January burglary.

    For United, Barcelona forward Pedro is the strongly-rumoured replacement.

    The 27-year-old seems a better fit for manager Louis van Gaal’s “philosophy”, honed at the fabled La Masia academy, which takes so much from Dutch football and with an eye for goal out wide glaringly absent.

    United have been here before and know the best course of action when a move does not come off as they expected. Both midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron and striker Diego Forlan were superstars in Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga, yet often resembled Salford Sunday League footballers with the Red Devils.

    The image of seeing Di Maria repeatedly rag dolled by imposing defenders – allowed to be more physical by the cul- ture of Premier League referees – sticks in the memory as much as his unbelievable chipped goal against Leicester City which seemed to herald something special.

    United should be lauded for cutting their losses, something Chelsea did not do with Fernando Torres. They have not  been the most prudent under CEO Ed Woodward, yet a £13 milllion (Dh74.1m) loss will be swallowed up by Pedro’s less-steep wage packet.

    Funds and focus can now be centred on the gaps at centre-back and striker, areas of distinct weakness.

    Quite simply, the Di Maria from Real Madrid was destined never to appear in England. Why chase the impossible? 

    Alex Rea, reporter, thinks NO.

    The Angel no longer has the desire to be a devil. That’s how a faction of Manchester United supporters have tried to reason the imminent departure of Angel Di Maria.

    They say he’s a bottler, that he doesn’t have the stomach for the fight and they argue that he simply just does not care.

    It’s an opinion that can’t be quantified but given the Argentine’s performances last season, has some weight to it. Still, it’s a huge mistake to sell him to the circling PSG. The 27-year-old’s United career started well enough, scoring three goals in his first five Premier League games.

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    After all, Di Maria moved to Old Trafford as the darling of the Bernabeu, a player at the peak of his powers, who bent the biggest games to his will. He was hailed as the flop of the season, yet only Cesc Fabregas assisted more goals and when you look at the combination of goals and assists per minute, Di Maria outshone Fabregas, David Silva and Eden Hazard. If that’s what he can produce when enduring a torrid time then imagine what he’s capable of when playing well.

    There is a world-class player in there and Louis van Gaal must ultimately share blame for not bringing that to light. The former Benfica man was not helped by a hamstring injury in November and those off-field problems were exacerbated when burglars attempted to break into his home in January.

    But when you take into consideration the constant shifting and wrestling with formations from Van Gaal, it’s no wonder he didn’t settle. Di Maria’s style is direct and aggressive dribbling and that didn’t match the Dutchman’s desire for patient and methodical build-up play. But in a 4-3-3 system Di Maria would excel.

    “The fans in England have not seen the real me,” he said in May. He’s right, they haven’t and the real Angel would stand up because he’s done it before. 

    That section of fans arguing he lacks the internal fortitude are wrong, he’s proven in the past he does. In January 2014 he was booed off the pitch by Real fans; look how that changed.

    Di Maria offers United a level of class that is in short supply and between his talent and determination, coupled with the fact he’d have been in a settled side, there are plenty of reasons why they shouldn’t sell. 

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